Zerith: Home
by M. L. Ayala
Summary: Zack/Aerith, oneshot, songfic. Home by Michael Buble. Some of Zack's feeling while he is away from Aerith on missions for Shinra.


Hey everyone! Here's another Zack/Aerith songfic. I was experimenting with a few techniques that I don't use very often when I wrote this, so if any of the phrasing seems awkward, please let me know. I apologize for any typos. I skimmed through and looked for any misspellings, but other than that I really haven't edited this.

The ending of this story is the same ending from If My Heart Was a House, but this one is from Zack's POV.

The song is _Home_ by Michael Bublé. If you haven't heard it before, I highly recommend it. Its an excellent song and it sets the tone for this story very well.

10/26/14 - So, this story was full of typos and I didn't realize that when I uploaded it. I'm kind of embarrassed by how long it's sat on this site in the state that it was in, but I'm pretty sure I've fixed it. There may be a few minor errors, but the horrible ones are gone. Sorry about that everyone :/

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><p><em>Another summer day<em>

_Has come and gone away_

_In Paris and Rome_

_But I wanna go home_

_Mmmmmmmm_

Zack sat in one of the Shinra transport vehicles on his way back from a mission. There was a group of other SOLDIERS, mostly 3rds and a few 2nds, joking and laughing around him. Normally he would have joined the conversation, but today he sat and stared blankly into space. It had been almost two and a half months since the last time he'd been in Midgar. That was far too long for him, and he was ready to get back.

The summer had passed by with Shinra sending him directly from one mission to another with no break in between. Zack had planned to take Aerith outside of the city while the weather was still warm, but now he would have to wait until spring. _I'm sorry, Aerith_, he thought as he pictured the gentle flower girl. _I'll be home soon_.

"We've been rerouted!" shouted one of the other SOLDIERs. "A disturbance nearby, Shinra wants us to check it out."

A chorus of groans met this announcement. Zack closed his eyes with a sigh. _Soon might be a little longer than I though…_

_May be surrounded by_

_A million people I_

_Still feel all alone_

_I just wanna go home_

_Oh, I miss you, you know_

The other SOLDIERs' jokes turned to shared complaints as their transport altered course. Zack considered joining the conversation, but decided against it. Complaining wouldn't get them home any faster. In fact, if any of the higher-ups heard about it, they were likely to add more stops and detours to their trip home.

Once they arrived, Zack realized that they were in Juno. The others' complaints rose in volume. They had traveled farther away from Midgar because of this new mission. Zack turned and gave them a glare, which shut them up pretty quickly.

"Spread out and search for the problem. Report in when you locate it." He walked past them and headed for one of the nearby citizens. The 3rds nodded and hurried off to do what he'd said, but the 2nds stood around for a moment watching him and mumbling before they shuffled off.

Being the only 1st in the group, and a newly promoted one at that, made a few of the others resentful towards him when he gave them orders. He tried not to let it bother him. The sooner they got this done, the sooner he could get back to Aerith.

_And I've been keeping all the letters that I wrote to you,_

_Each one a line or two,_

"_I'm fine baby, how are you?"_

_Well I would send them but I know that it's just not enough_

_My words were cold and flat,_

_And you deserve more than that_

There was a stack of letters, more like notes, sitting at the bottom of the case where he kept his gear while on long missions. One for every day since he'd left Midgar on yet another extended mission. Some were responses to letters that he'd received. Kunsel tried to forward as much of his mail as possible while he was away, knowing that letters from Aerith were always welcome.

Zack looked through the letters waiting to be sent. He knew that there would be an opportunity to mail them in the morning, but as he read what he had written to her, he shook his head. These weren't what he wanted to say to Aerith.

He tucked the papers back underneath all of his gear and closed the case. Pulling out his phone, he tried to find a signal. A phone call wasn't really how he wanted to contact her, but it was a start. Maybe this way his words wouldn't sound as hollow as they did in his letters.

_Another aeroplane,_

_Another sunny place_

_I'm lucky, I know_

_but I wanna go home_

_Mmmm, I've got to go home_

The sun in Costa del Sol was beating down on the beach, baking everyone who was lying out on the sand. Zack was stretched out near the water, letting the waves lap at his feet. He could hear the helicopter that had brought him here flying away, back to Midgar. He would have given anything to still be on it, because then he would have been headed home.

Instead, he was on a mandatory vacation, with orders to relax. _How can you order someone to relax?_ he had wondered incredulously when he received the message.

He knew that he should be grateful - not many people got all-expenses-paid trips from Shinra - but if he'd been given the choice, he would have been much happier at home. Spending time with Aerith would have been just as relaxing as laying on the beach. More relaxing, actually. He felt guilty gazing up at the bright blue sky, knowing that he hadn't taken her outside of the city to see it for herself.

He stood up and headed back toward the villa where he was staying. _Maybe I can get them to let me take the vacation time back in Midgar._

_Let me go home,_

_I'm just too far from where you are,_

_I wanna come home_

Zack stomped out of his room in the villa less than five minutes after he had gone in to make a phone call. "_Request for return to Midgar: Denied_," the mechanical voice had informed him. He had let out a frustrated yell before flinging the phone across the room. It had bee two days since he had made the call requesting permission to take his vacation at home, and he had been waiting for someone to call and let him know what had been decided.

After half an hour of trudging around Costa Del Sol, he made it back to the beach and threw himself down on the sand. He was close to dozing off when a shadow fell over him. Opening his eyes, Zack found Cissnei standing over him with a smile on her face.

"Funny how our vacations are always scheduled at the same time," she laughed softly.

"Yeah. Funny." Zack stood and walked off a few paces.

"What's wrong?" Cissnei asked as she followed him. "You're thinking about Aerith, aren't you?"

"I just want to go home, that's all," he said over his shoulder as he walked away.

_And I feel just like I'm living someone else's life,_

_It's like I just stepped outside_

_When everything was going right_

_And I know just why you could not_

_Come along with me,_

'_Cause this was not your dream_

_But you always believed in me_

Zack smiled as he watched Cloud try to dodge Tifa's questions. The girl had given up pestering the SOLDIERs for the day and had turned to the infantrymen who had accompanied them to Nibelheim. The others had laughed and answered her, but Cloud, afraid of being recognized, was stuttering and mumbling through his answers. Zack couldn't help but laugh at his friend's predicament. Tifa turned to look at him, one eyebrow raised as if to ask "What's so funny?" before going back to interrogating Cloud about everything he new about the other SOLDIER members.

Zack chuckled again as Cloud tried to make an excuse and ran off, with Tifa close behind him. The two disappeared on the other side of town as Cloud tried to escape. Zack shook his head. It had been obvious after only a few minutes that Cloud liked Tifa, and judging by the number of questions she had asked about a blonde haired SOLDIER, she liked him as well. He wondered how long it would take her to figure out that the object of her affections was actually the one she was pestering.

Thinking back, he wondered if he and Aerith had ever seemed that hopelessly clueless. _Aerith…_ He would have given anything to have her there with him. Her smile and laughter would have been enough to cheer him up and get him out of this slightly depressed mood.

He knew that she would never be able to come with him on his missions, especially one like this (though he still wasn't sure why they were still in Nibelheim, no one had done anything for a while). Even if she was allowed to come, she wouldn't have, and he understood that. SOLDIER missions were no place for the gentle flower girl. She was the type to stay behind and silently cheer him on from home. He only wished that he could see her, to tell her how much he appreciated her. How much he loved her…

_Another winter day has come_

_And gone away,_

_In even Paris and Rome,_

_And I wanna go home,_

_Let me go home_

A light snow had been falling all day, just barely sticking to the ground in Nibelheim. Zack sat at the window staring out at the town. It was beautiful, much more so than Midgar in the winter. That didn't change the fact that he would rather have been back in the city.

They could have been home over a week ago if it hadn't been for Sephiroth. The other SOLDIER had found a library in the basement of Shinra Manor and had sealed himself inside, ignoring the grumblings of the others. There was nothing left for them to do while he prowled through the books, so they wandered aimlessly around town and the surrounding countryside.

_What a waste of time,_ Zack thought to himself. _Why couldn't we all go home and leave him here? It's not like he can't fend for himself. And I really doubt that those books have any real value to our mission._

"It must feel good to be home, even if no one known it's you," Zack told Cloud one day while they were out exploring the mountain.

Cloud shrugged and looked away. "Not as good as you might think."

"I would give anything to be back in Midgar right now."

_And I'm surrounded by,_

_A million people I_

_Still feel all alone_

_Oh, let me go home_

_Oh, I miss you, you know_

The Shinra army closed in around him as he fought, leaving Zack surrounded on all sides. He had managed to take Cloud behind one of the many rocky areas along the cliffs before he came out to face the army by himself. If things went as he planned, he'd be able to go back for Cloud within a few hours. Of course, things had a habit of not going as he planned, and this time seemed no different.

It had taken only a moment for him to realize that they must have sent half the army out after him and Cloud. Now, after cutting down more men than he could count and still not being close to done, he was convinced that the other half of the army had come to finish him off.

As the battle wore on, his thoughts started to wander, flashing to odd moments, memories of close friends, loved ones. Each memory strengthened him, until at last… _her_ face. _Her_ voice. _Aerith._

_Oh Aerith, I have so much I have to make up to you. Please, please just wait a little longer for me. I promise you I'l be there._

_Let me go home_

_I've had my run_

_Baby, I'm done_

_I gotta go home_

All he wanted was to go home. He wasn't planning on telling anyone about Shinra's dirty little secrets, how they let Hojo have free rein to run his experiments. He wasn't planning on doing anything to strike back at the company, although, if that group AVALANCHE offered him a position, he would accept it in a heartbeat. He wasn't even planning to return to work, especially after they declared him KIA.

All he wanted was to go home. _Why can't they understand that?_ All he wanted was to live his own life. _Why won't they leave me alone?_ All he wanted was to be free of this. _Why won't they let me go?_ All he wanted was to be done with this. _Why are they fighting me?_

All he wanted was to see her again. _...why can't I remember her name?_

_Let me go home,_

_It will all be all right,_

_I'll be home tonight,_

_I'm coming back home._

The streets were dark, and what little light the street lamps cast didn't reach very far. The slums never had proper lighting anyway, even in the day time. If anyone had been paying attention, they would have noticed a shadow crawling along the ground, through the darkest parts of the street.

Aerith's church had an eerie glow to it, and it wasn't really coming from the street lamps. It seemed almost to glow from the inside. _Weird … there aren't any lights on … _the shadow dragged itself further up the stairs to the door. Standing slowly, it became clear that it was a man. He leaned heavily on the door and then pushed it open, not making a sound.

He hadn't expected her to be there. It was too late, she should have been home by now. But there she was. He leaned against the door frame and watched her kneeling in the flowers. Her back was to him, and he noticed that she was wearing a pink dress. He smiled a bit as he remembered suggesting that she wear pink the next time they saw each other.

A slight breeze blew in through the door and stirred the flowers around her. He could see her shoulders tense as she slowly turned to the door. Her emerald eyes were wide as she stared at him, and he realized that it was too dark for her to recognize him. He thought about moving, but decided against it. She looked scared enough already, and if he moved he had a feeling that he would fall over and not be able to stand again. Finally the light shifted just enough, and her expression changed from alarm to disbelief.

He smiled, though he knew the expression didn't reach his eyes, and murmured, "Hello, Aerith." She ran up the aisle to him, reaching him just as he tried to step toward her and fell.

She caught him and ended up sitting on the floor clutching him to her. "You're home…" she whispered, and he could hear her voice tremble.

"I'm home," he whispered back with a sigh.

_I'm home._


End file.
